The apartment itself was a long rectangle, stretching along the north wall at the top of the building. The door gave onto the living room, with the kitchen through an arch to the left, and the hallway with the bedrooms and the bathroom running to the right.
Jason, Mac, and I had put all the groceries away while the pups raced from one end of the long apartment to the other, jumping on beds and peering through the windows to look out over the enclave. They’d never been so high up in their lives. I smiled as I walked down the hall, remembering the noise, and poor Beatrice crying because she’d been left behind by the older two, and Noah quite frankly not giving a hoot.
In the kitchen, I made myself a coffee. I was a bit worried that I’d overspent despite Abel pointing out to me that I had my own income now. I’d felt so rich when Abel had told me to buy what I needed, what the pups were used to having. It had worried me at first, and I’d been very careful of the pennies as the credits racked up, but he hadn’t seemed concerned, and I thought about all the credit that this job would give me, and how I couldn’t take it wherever I went after, and so I spent. And spent. New clothes for Fan and Teca, and food we’d only gotten to eat on special occasions, even when Patrick had been alive. I wasn’t used to not having to answer to someone else for the choices I made, and it had been a heady experience.
Almost as heady as the Alpha himself this evening. I leaned against the counter, the mug warm in my hands, and thought back to that moment at the door. Oh, he was handsome. And strong, the bulge of his shoulders leading down to a chest I could easily see curling against. He had graceful hands, and a shudder ran through me as I considered how they’d feel against my skin.
I put the coffee down and went to start a bath for myself. Such luxury, to have the place to myself, and no worry about time. I was home, there was no work to be done, except to wipe up the floor where we’d tracked some dirt on it. While the water gushed into the tub and steam filled the small bathroom, I slipped one of my romance novels out of its hiding space under my new mattress and bundled it into my nightshirt. I retrieved my coffee and took everything into the bathroom, where the air was now almost opaque with steam.
The water was just the right side of too hot, and I eased myself in, groaning with the pleasure of it. My coffee went on the wide edge of the tub, and I set the book on top of a short stool, close at hand, while I sank into the heat and felt my muscles finally begin to loosen. I could get used to this.
For a few moments, I simply soaked, and let myself treasure this small island of tranquility. The water tickled against my sides and the backs of my shoulders, turning my skin bright pink everywhere it touched. I was tired, but not sleepy, though I knew it was coming, the siren lure of my bed whispering sultrily at the edges of my awareness. For now, though, I had Ransom, the Navy Seal, and his lover, the spy Graham.
I didn’t know this book as well as the others; I’d probably only read it a half a dozen times. But I was in the mood for someone strong, who brooked no debate, and who would literally sweep his love off his feet and carry him out of danger. I started at the beginning, but soon found myself flipping forward, in search of one particular scene.
“The safe house has been compromised,” Ransom whispered.
“What do we do now?” I asked, my grip on the back of his utility belt growing tighter.
“There’s another place we can go. Are you up for a hike?”
“Me? I’m not the one with a bullet in his leg.”
“I’m fine. It’s a flesh wound. But it’s going to be a long hard run, and some climbing.”
I wasn’t going to let him down, not when he’d fought halfway across the city to rescue me. “I’m game.”
His head turned, and a faint sliver of light glinted against the sweaty curve of his cheekbone. “I know you are.” His grin sent heat flooding through my body, and I had to swallow hard against the urge to kiss him. It was probably just the adrenaline.
Hardly likely.
It took us an hour to make it to Ransom’s hiding spot, running, then hiding, over and over again. Ransom said it was to let him scout ahead, but I knew he was giving me a breather. I was in shape, but not his kind of shape.
I felt the rush of blood through my body, my nipples going stiff in anticipation. Idly, I rubbed a thumb over one of them, whimpering softly as it sent shocks of arousal down to my groin. I was wide awake now, my whole body focused on the words in front of me.
Ransom locked us in the small apartment. “We should be safe here. I’ve left a message for extraction.”
“When will that be?” I didn’t like the thought of the Scorpio Consortium finding us.
“Morning.” He began to empty the contents of the first aid kit on his belt onto the table.
His leg. “Let me help with that.”
What started as simple first aid turned into an act of seduction. My fingers traced the hard muscles of his thighs, muscles I distinctly remembered shoving my legs wide at the top of the Eiffel Tower two days ago. He remembered it too, evidently. His hand curled around the back of my neck, and as soon as I’d taped down the end of the bandage, I was dragged up to his mouth, forced against the hard planes of his body as he shoved me against the wall.
“Naked. Now,” he panted in my ear when we came up for air. I shoved my pants down while he ripped my shirt open, and then his mouth was on me, all over me, and the heat of his skin set me on fire.
It was like being a teenager again, and though my season had been suppressed by Noah’s suckling, a different kind of heat flowed through my veins. The book fell over the side of the tub as I ran my hand down the inside of my thigh, then up the back again, the slightest touch setting my skin on fire with need. It had been too long since I’d been touched without the pollution of Patrick’s demands, and I lost myself, my legs spreading wide as my hands wandered willfully about places I’d forgotten could feel good. My now free hand slid down the center of my chest to my omega line, teasing along it, enjoying the build-up while my cock begged.
My legs moved restlessly, and my desire built. I left off playing along my line and grabbed my cock, trailing fingertips up and down, seeking out the best places to set off that explosion I so desperately needed. My other hand moved farther, fingers skating over the curve of my ass. Something inside me would feel good. I squeezed my cock and stroked up and down, then reached farther, toward my center and that emptiness I needed filled.
“Fuck, you’re a randy slut.” Patrick’s voice rang in my ears. The memory flashed in front of me, blocking out everything, sight, sound, touch. I’d been in the bath, early in our mating. Patrick had said he’d be late, only he hadn’t, and he’d caught me, there, in the bathtub.
I sat up in a rush, water splashing over the edge of the tub, my sobs echoing off the tiled walls. I didn’t want to remember that. This place didn’t deserve to be poisoned with those memories.
Fuck you, Patrick. I’m glad you’re dead.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Just after eleven-thirty, Abel got the message from the gates that Laine had arrived. He called everyone planning to be at the meeting, then sat back to wait. An echo of puppy laughter seeped through the door—Bax and his family. The elevator hissed, and the happy sounds disappeared. Abel wished he could go with them.
A few minutes later, Mac knocked politely at the door to the office, waiting for Abel to let him in.
Abel walked over and opened the door. “Morning. You really should have a set of master keys just for yourself.”
“Good morning.” Mac sidled into the room, carrying a stack of cardboard boxes from which drifted the savory smells of Sabrina’s cooking. “I stopped by the restaurant on the way here. Mini pizza, garlic bread, trifle, cookies. She set us up for the whole afternoon, except for drinks.”
“I’ve got that covered.” Abel helped him set everything out on the table in the meeting room on the opposite side of Louise’s office from his own. “Did you tell her to bill it to the pack?”
> “Of course.” Mac grabbed a cookie and fell into one of the chairs. “I can’t afford this kind of spread.”
“You won’t be living on one income for long. And there’s the supplement.” It was small, but the pack helped out where it could when a member was unable to work. Between that, and the government stipend that the packs had won from the government back in the days of the Enclosure, they wouldn’t starve.
Mac nodded indifferently.
Another knock heralded Duke’s and Garrick’s arrival. Garrick set a suitcase and another, smaller, bag against one wall, and Abel was reminded that Garrick was going to spend a week with Laine.
“Teddy’s bringing him up,” Duke said. “Oh, good. Food.” He slid a pizza, no bigger than his palm, off the tray they’d been arranged on and shoved half of it in his mouth. “I’m tired of cooking for myself,” he mumbled. “What do you think of me moving back to the barracks?”
“I think you’d terrify the kids,” Mac said dryly.
“I know he would,” Garrick chimed in. “He scares the crap out of me all the time.”
Duke narrowed his eyes at Garrick. “You don’t sound scared now.”
“Abel’s here,” Garrick said primly and moved to sit on the opposite side of the table.
Abel suppressed a snort, but Mac wasn’t so polite, cracking a laugh and saying, “Besides, we all know you’re a marshmallow.”
Duke grinned, and snagged another pizza. “Yeah, about to set your hair on fire.”
They laughed, and Abel crooked his finger at Garrick to help him set up the drinks.
By the time Teddy delivered Laine to the conference room, they had everyone set up with food, something to drink, paper and pens.
“Laine, welcome.” Abel shook his hand and ushered him to a seat at the table. Garrick passed him a cup of coffee, and they got down to work.
Hours passed. The food was all gone, drinks refreshed several times over. Abel sat back and scratched absently at the corner of his jaw, his eyes fixed on the close-written lines on the pad of paper in front of him. “All right. So I call the police and ask why no charges have been filed.”
“Have Garrick type this all up,” Laine said. “Send it to them. Put my name on it as added assurance. I’m sure they’ll say that they’re working on it, but this will ensure that something actually gets done. And in the meantime, Garrick can request, in my name, the record of the investigation, and we’ll use that to set up a civil suit against the Montana Border pack.”
“To do what?” Mac asked. He’d worn a troubled look through the entire conversation, but had merely shaken his head when Abel had tried to pry out whatever was bothering him.
“Whatever you want? Though the first thing I’d do is get a counter penalty, to take the sting out of the one for Jason. You could even go farther. After all, they deliberately chose to use violence and risk all your lives to take Jason back. Something which could also have killed him and the baby. You might be able to get a pain and suffering judgment against them that would turn the balance of the money in your favor.”
Mac shook his head. “Jason wouldn’t be happy with that. They’re poor enough as it is.” He picked at the corner of his notes, shredding the edge.
Laine glared at him, exasperated.
Abel sat up again. “I think I agree with him, though not for the same reasons. I still have to deal with these other Alphas afterward, and if they see me using the human justice system to punish another pack, it’ll make it hard for me to gain their cooperation for other projects. We have gardens, but we don’t have the agricultural expertise that Indiana does. We have no capacity to train our own medical personnel. And most important is genetic diversity—if we can’t mate among packs, then our genetic diversity goes down the tubes.” He felt trapped, and it made him restless. It didn’t help that Laine was challenging him in this, and his first instinct was to slap that behavior down.
There could only be one Alpha in a pack, and Abel had won that place with words and blood. He’d keep it that way too, if he needed to. But Laine was human, which meant ignorant of shifter lives, and they needed him; Abel gritted his teeth and sat hard on the unnecessary anger. “I can’t risk those ties. I’d be happy just to keep Jason, and to hell with punitive measures.”
Laine spread his hands in apparent defeat, though Abel could tell he was still annoyed with the decision. “Very well. You’re the client. Was there anything else you wanted to discuss?”
Abel glanced around the table, receiving a shake of the head from everyone. “Then I guess we’re done.” He motioned to Garrick. “Come with me, I’ll get you your tabs.” He turned to Laine. “You have his papers?”
Laine nodded and reached into his briefcase. He passed over several pages, then began gathering up his notes from the conference. “I’ll bring him back next weekend, if you like. I had the paperwork made out for two weeks, just in case.”
Garrick leaned over and put his mouth next to Abel’s ear. “Do you want me to go talk to that professor at the university?”
“Is he here?”
Garrick nodded. “This is his last year, though. He’s moving to New York.”
Abel tapped his fingers on the table while he worked through the pros and cons. “Do it. You’ll probably have to get Laine to take you.” He glanced over at the human lawyer. “Fill him in on everything we know, see if you can enlist his help. He’ll have way more latitude for research than we would.” He signed all three pages and passed it over to Garrick for his signature.
Garrick signed, and stood up. “I’m ready whenever you are,” he told Laine.
That seemed to be the signal for the meeting to end. They all got to their feet, shook hands, and then each went their separate ways.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Monday morning, I raced around the apartment, determined to leave the place absolutely pristine just in case someone dropped in to check on it. I didn’t think they would, but just in case, I wanted them to know they could trust me with their possessions. As soon as I’d picked up everything I could find that wasn’t where it was supposed to be, I scrambled some eggs and put toast in the toaster, then went to get Noah out of his crib.
“How’s my baby?” I whispered as I picked him up. He was wide awake, cooing to himself and grabbing at his toes. I grabbed the diaper bag as well on my way out of the room. It only took a moment to get him cleaned up, and then I set him in the high chair Duke had dropped off for me yesterday. It was battered, but still in working shape, and I tried Noah on some of my eggs while I shoveled most of the rest of them into my mouth before the other the pups woke.
I still couldn’t get over the idea of being able to eat eggs every day if I wanted to. Fan and Teca and Beatrice, too, though they’d latched on to some imported cereal at Supplies and had opted for that both yesterday and today. But I’d feed them something healthy tonight. Maybe spaghetti, with alphabet pasta, and carrots grated into the sauce so Teca couldn’t pick them out.
While Noah mashed his spoonful of eggs in his hair and launched them at the ceiling, I washed my plate and went to wake up my other three.
Fan was a morning pup, and he woke easily. I sent him to the bathroom, then set some clothes out for him and left my independent little alpha to wiggle into whatever he could manage. Teca wasn’t fond of mornings, and Beatrice was already awake, playing in the corner with the new blocks I’d bought yesterday at Supplies. With a bit of humoring, I got Teca on her feet and headed for the bathroom, and quickly stripped Beatrice out of her diaper and put a new one on her. We met Teca coming down the hall, still rubbing sleep from her eyes, the corners of her mouth doing their best to head for China. I kissed her and called her my darling, and shooed her out to the living room for breakfast.
No one wanted eggs, a choice I acquiesced to with only a small pang of guilt. More for me! I poured them bowls of cereal, and let them eat in the living room with a video playing on the television mounted on the wall. It was all still new enough, and
while I worried about spoiling them, the memories of the past six months were enough to quash any temptation I had to take it away from them.
Noah was obviously done with his eggs, so I wiped him off and sat down on the couch to let him nurse himself full.
I eyed my litter with pride. They were so well-behaved now that we were away from Jackson-Jellystone. I couldn’t wait to take them to the daycare, have them meet new young shifters without the stigma of their sudden loss of status to hold them back. A new start, a chance to remake our futures.
Noah finished nursing, and I set him down to crawl happily around on the floor. He hadn’t tried for his first form change yet, but if he followed the pattern set by my other pups, it wouldn’t be long now.
“Okay, pups, finish up. We have to brush our teeth and get ready for daycare!” I sang.
“I wanna stay with you, Dabi,” Teca said. She let me dress her, but wasn’t her usual helpful self.
I crouched down in front of her, wiping the milky smear from around her mouth. “Wait until you see the toys they have. There’s a little kitchen, and costumes, and it’s right at the park, so there’s lots of places to play. Annnnnd,” I drew the word out, as if I had a fantastic surprise for her. “There are other girls and boys there to play with too.”
She gasped in two-year-old excitement, even though she wasn’t quite at the age to be excited about playmates. But Fan certainly was, and he inhaled the last of his cereal and toast, though he stubbornly left the crust behind. Generally, I’d make him eat it, but this was the beginning of our new life, and even though I’d already let them watch television during a meal, maybe another small celebration was in order. It felt like a celebration to me, anyway, not having to fight with him over it.
Abel's Omega(Gay Paranomal MM Mpreg Romance) (Mercy Hills Pack Book 2) Page 14
